TBILISI -- Protests are continuing for a third straight day in Georgia, with thousands of demonstrators demanding the prosecution of top officials implicated in a prison abuse scandal.

The protests in the capital, Tbilisi, and other cities follow the release of graphic videos showing guards brutally beating and raping prisoners.

Georgian Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia on September 19 became the latest official to step down over the scandal.

President Mikheil Saakashvili described himself as "angry and outraged" by the alleged abuse, but called on Georgians to avoid using the case for what he called "political games."

The videos, which were aired by opposition television stations, come just over a week before his ruling party faces off in critical parliamentary elections against the Georgian Dream opposition coalition of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.